Chapter 6: Chapter Chapter Five

“How’s the tea? Did I make it right?” Sabine asked Steiner as she cautiously sipped the steaming mahogany fluid.

“It is fine,” Steiner replied quietly. She sipped the tea and her lips curved slightly upward in satisfaction. “This tea is special. Do you know why?”

“No.”

“When I was a young woman, I used to share it with my lover. It brings back many fond memories.”

“What was he like?”

“Stupid,” Steiner replied instantly. “But he would have done anything for me.”

“How did he die?”

“He got in an argument with…” Steiner paused for a moment and sipped her tea. “A close friend.”

“His friend killed him?”

“I am sorry, I do not wish to talk about this any more.”

“I’m sorry, I understand…”

“Have you heard about the murders recently?” Steiner inquired as she finished her tea and placed the cup on her stone desk.

“Yeah…” Sabine thought for a moment. “Is that why you called me here? People say there are vampires roaming the streets.”

“What do you think?”

“Didn’t Liet Rochben slay all of the vampires?”

“That is the legend, yes,” Steiner twirled her hair in her fingers as she spoke. “But vampires are immortal. The master chronomancer simply prevented their regeneration.”

“So…you’re saying they’ve returned?”

“I suppose Liet must have finally passed, releasing them from stasis.”

“What?!” Sabine spit her tea back into her cup. “That would make him like, a thousand years old!”

“He could manipulate time. What did you expect?”

“You’ve got a point. What can we do about it?”

“Nothing for now. I just want you to know that there is truth to the rumors. Be careful, we can not allow anything to jeopardize the tournament. How is Wolf’s training?”

“He’s doing quite well. We’re going to start taking mercenary contracts so he can get some practical experience. The simulations just aren’t cutting it any more.”

“That is good to hear, but make sure you are not just wasting time and money.”

“Of course, you’ve got nothing to worry about.”

“That is all, you may leave now,” Steiner waved her hand and Sabine rose to leave. “Thank you for visiting me. Your presence is…refreshing.”

“No problem. I’ll see you later Stein,” Sabine smiled as she left.

“Vampires? Nah, that’s a load of shit,” Wolf shouted. “You wanna know what it is? People are getting bled dry by thugs, then tossed in the streets.”

“That could be true but…” Sabine sat down on the couch next to Wolf. “I believe Steiner. Why would she lie to me?”

“I don’t know…” Wolf slammed his fist into the table, leaving a small dent. “Fuckin’ bloodbags…That’s all we are…”

“Thugs, vampires, whatever, I just want you to be careful.”

“Thanks, Sabby, but you know I can handle myself.”

“It’s not just yourself you’ve got to watch out for now. Nina doesn’t know this city like you do.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep her safe,” Wolf smiled and flexed his bionic arm.

“Good, you excited for our first contract?”

“You kidding? I’ve been looking forward to this for days. What are we doing? Killing a gargath or something?”

“Precisely,” Sabine replied as she headed toward the exit of Wolf’s flat. “Ready to go?”

“Nah, let me shower first,” Wolf lifted his arm and fake gagged. “Forgot to this morning.”

“Alright, I’ll be prepping the mugen,” Sabine said before she left.

Wolfgang made his way to the bathroom, undressed, and started to shower. As soon as the steam started, he felt soft hands on his back, causing him to jump.

“Ni?! Why are you here?”

“It’s more efficient if we bathe together,” Nina smiled softly.

“I…I guess,” Wolfgang covered himself as the sanitizing goop dropped onto the pair. “Is this another thing from Senija?”

“Communal bathing is quite common,” Ni giggled.

“Yeah, that stuff doesn’t happen much around here.”

“Sorry if I made you uncomfortable,” Nina pouted. “I just miss my homeland.”

“Nah, it’s fine,” Wolf patted her head and laughed. “I’m not going to tell you to leave.”

The pair finished bathing, dressed, and left to meet Sabine. She was sitting in Bastien’s cockpit flipping switches and making adjustments to his settings.

“You good?” Wolf asked.

“Yeah, I’ve got something for you before we go,” Sabine reached under her seat and produced two handguns. One was a smaller model that fit in the palm of her hand which she handed to Nina. The larger one she handed to Wolf. “You might not always be in your pit. Link it to your system, then if you run into something outside of your mugen, point and shoot. The projectile is guided by your neural uplink.”

“What about you?” Wolf asked as he tossed the weapon into his mugen. Sabine reached under her seat and brandished a tarnished revolver with a flourish. “Kind of old, ’innit?”

“I need something that doesn’t rely on augments,” Sabine put her revolver back under the seat.

“I guess so…” Wolf and Nina entered their mugen and started their engines. “Do we need a plan or just go in guns blazing?”

“I’ll explain on the way. Let’s head toward the gate.”

“This is going to be my first time outside of the walls…” Wolf’s voice quivered for a moment as the group left the hangar. “I’m kind of excited.”

“It’s a first for me, too. The contract is to kill a gargath that’s been terrorizing one of the local farms,” Sabine explained as they approached the large gate in the massive wall that surrounded the city. Loud hydraulic sounds could be heard as the doors lurched open. Sabine tapped a few buttons on Bastien’s holoscreen before continuing. “I’ve sent you the specs for the mission. We need to retrieve its heart.”

“Whoa, that’s a gargath?!” Wolf exclaimed as he examined the images that Sabine had sent. The beast was slightly larger than his mugen and had massive shell-like scales all along its back. It was quadrupedal with a long, quilled tail. It had legs like thick tree trunks with razer claws at the bottom. “How do we kill it?”

“It’s going to be difficult. The monster has three hearts. If we can stop the two auxiliary hearts, it should immobilize it. From there we just cut it open and get the heart.”

“Does it matter if we damage the primary heart?” Wolf inquired.

“It’s unlikely we could harm the primary heart,” Nina replied. “Its encased in a thick layer of bone.”

“You know your stuff, Nina,” Sabine complimented as the group ventured out into the black abyss.

“I didn’t realize it would be so dark,” Wolf observed. “I guess I’d never really thought about how it would look without the lights of the city…”

“Nina’s recon is going to be exceptionally useful here. We’ll be relying on you, okay?”

“I won’t let you down,” Nina chimed.

“So uh…where are we going?” Wolf asked.

“It’s been sighted about a kilometer from the city. It should be obvious once we find it.”

“Huh, alright,” Wolf replied. “How come Nina’s not slowing us down? I thought recon mugen were slow.”

“I need to anchor my mugen when we’re in combat,” Nina explained. “It’s too stressful to pilot the drone, communicate necessary information, and try to navigate the battlefield at the same time. If I absolutely need to move, then you’ll lose any support I provide.”

“Hmm…I think I understand now.”

“How much are we getting paid?”

“Fifty thousand creds,” Sabine quietly responded. She had closed her eyes and was breathing softly.

“Whoa, that’s pretty good!”

“Eh, it’s not bad.”

“We can’t all be filthy rich like you,” Wolfgang laughed.

“You always say that, but I put all of my income back into my mugen. I need this just as much as you do.”

“Nina, what’s your take?”

“Any work is good work.”

“Alright, we’re here,” Sabine stated as Bastien stopped abruptly. “Do you…see or hear anything?”

“It’s dead silent,” Wolf stated as he scanned the horizon using the flood lights on his mugen. They were standing in an open wasteland. Craters littered the landscape. “There’s nothing…thing’s massive, how can we not see it?”

“My scanners are picking up a massive heat signature directly on top of us,” Nina pointed out as she began to anchor her mugen. “Perhaps its ben-“

Nina was cut off by an explosion of earth as the gargath emerged from the soil, knocking Uragiru off balance. The monstrosity let out a blood curdling roar as it flung its full body weight towards Bastien. Sabine responded instantly by firing three rockets at its from left leg, causing it to buckle and fall at her feet.

“Wolf, you’ll need to wound the hearts, I’ll try to keep it immobilized,” Sabine instructed as she began to fire her hand cannons at its ankles, leaving small wounds that barely pierced its thick hide.

“One heart is near the tail, the other is in the center of its mass. The primary heart is close to its neck. Thermal imaging sent to your feed,” Nina explained.

“Not a problem!” Wolf shouted in excitement as Uragiru sprinted towards the tail end of the beast. He positioned himself above where the heart was and prepared to extend his arm blades, but the beast had other plans. It wrapped its thick, spiny tail around Uragiru’s legs and pulled them out from beneath him in an attempt to fling the mugen away. Wolf responded by extending his arm blades and digging them into the beast’s carapace, causing it to tear its own flesh and scales. The beast let out a cry of pain and bit down on Bastien’s left leg, crushing it completely. “Sabine!”

“I’ll be fine, just take out those hearts!” Sabine shouted as she put the monster into a headlock.

Wolf grabbed the beast’s tail with one hand and blasted his hand cannon until he could blast no more, creating a crater at it’s base. He used his arm blades to saw through the rest of it, then tossed the tail to the side. After retracting his arm blades, he repositioned himself above the heart, then extended them, impaling the beast and causing a fountain of blood to spray out of the wound after Wolf retracted the blades again. The beast’s rear legs collapsed under its weight as Wolf made his way to the next heart. The gargath put up almost no resistance this time as he plunged his blades into its gut, piercing the second heart. The beast was now lying helplessly on the ground as Sabine lifted its throat.

“I’m sorry big guy,” she whispered as she plunged Bastien’s arm into its chest, wrenching the massive heart from its body. The enormous organ was covered in a thick stonelike shell with a few holes for the ventricles, which were now leaking blood.

“Fuck yeah, baby!” Wolf cried out in excitement. “This is nothing like the simulations!”

“It could have gone better, but I’m glad it didn’t go worse,” Sabine replied as she steadied Bastien on his remaining leg. “Come over here, I’m going to need some help walking back.”

“You got it, Sab.”

Nina readied her mugen for travel and joined the others before speaking. “You didn’t hear me scream when it bit Bastien’s leg, did you…?”

Wolf let out a short burst of laughter. “Nah, but I wish I had.”

The group continued to talk about the highlights of their battle as they made their way back to Asnea.

~

“…and remember,” Wolf paused as he sat at the bar in the Valkyrie. The crowd of people chanted along as he finished his catch phrase. “You’ve got Wolfgang in your brain.”

“We haven’t even had our first match yet,” Sabine smiled and put her hand on Wolf’s shoulder. “Yet you’re already famous.”

“I can’t believe they were playing my show here this whole time!” Wolf slammed back his drink. “And here I was thinking no one listened to it.”

“Are you ready for our first match?”

“Come on, Sabby, you’ve seen me on our contracts. I’ve been ready for weeks.”

“I suppose you’ve done better than expected,” Sabine had a glowing smile on her face.

“Sabby…” Wolf’s expression became solemn. “I want to tell you something.”

“Then just tell me, idiot,” Sabine laughed.

“I love you, you know that, right?” Wolf paused for a moment before signalling Molly for another drink. “Not like that. I just…I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you. I’d still be fucked out my head in the lower district. I want you to know how much that means to me, how much having you here means to me. You’re the closest thing I’ve got to family.”

“I know that, Wolf, I love you too! You’re like a brother to me.”

“Don’t let Sebille hear you say that, “Wolf’s expression returned to its usual state. “How are things with you two, anyway?”

“Not good…” Sabine frowned. “Between our training, my duties at the hangar, and Steiner, I haven’t had any time to spend with Sebille. She’s not happy at all.”

“Have you told her you love her?” Wolf laughed.

“That’s the thing, she keeps telling me that if you truly care for someone, you’ll make time,” Sabine stared into her crystal glass for a moment before taking a sip. “It’s got me thinking maybe I don’t love her. Last time we spoke she got mad at me for having tea with Steiner instead of spending time with her.”

“You bailed on her for Stein?”

“It’s not like we had plans and besides, I owe everything to Steiner, she raised me!” Sabine finished her drink in one gulp, then began to mimic Sebille’s voice. “Just once it would be nice if you’d cancel plans with Steiner instead of me!”

Wolfgang burst out laughing. “She’s got a point, you know.”

“I feel like I’m avoiding her, like I don’t even want to go home any more because Sebille will be there to scold me.”

“I dunno what to say, Sabby. I’ve never been in that situation before,” Wolf looked pensive for a moment, before a huge smile stretched across his face. “Follow your heart?”

“Ha ha,” Sabine’s face was solid as stone. “What about Nina? You two have been awfully close lately.”

“That’s uh…I dunno, Sabby. I don’t know what it is.”

“How so?”

“We eat together, we bathe together, we sleep together…” Wolf thought for a moment. “We do everything together, really. That’s a relationship, right?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“But see, that’s the thing. She doesn’t say anything about feelings or romance. It’s always ‘This is what we do in Senija’.”

“How do you feel towards her?”

“She’s cute.”

“That’s it? She’s cute?” Sabine chuckled. “I’m going to need a little more to go on than that.”

“She smells good and I like her voice,” Wolfgang looked up into the lights of the bar. “And she does this thing where she kind of bounces on her tip toes when she wants something…”

“I think I’ve gathered enough information,” Sabine giggled and twirled her hair. “I wouldn’t call it love, but you’re definitely interested. Have you talked to her about it?”

“No, I didn’t really put any thought into it until you brought it up just now…” Wolf’s voice trailed off. “In my entire life, I’ve never even considered dating someone…”

“Hold on…Wolf…” Sabine grew a mischievous smirk. “You’re not a virgin now, are you?”

Wolf’s face reddened immediately as he pointed to his augments. “Course I’m not a virgin, Sabby. You see my augs every day!”

“That’s not what I meant and you know it!”

“I…Maybe…” Wolf admitted. “I’ve never been sober long enough to think about it.”

“I never would have guessed, you’re very charismatic. Doesn’t seem like it would be a problem for you.”

“It couldn’t hurt, right? I should just talk to her, huh…”

“If you want to, but I think you should go for it.”

“Thanks, Sabby, I hope you and Sebille sort out whatever you’ve got going on.”

“I hope so too…”